Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel are required to handle the combined weight of a patient and the ambulance cot during various stages of maneuvering of the ambulance cot while separated from the ambulance. This cot manipulation often requires that the patient supported on the litter be lifted to various elevated heights above the floor. In some instances, the weight factor can cause EMS personnel injury that requires medical treatment.
As the inclusion of more and more sophisticated technology onto ambulance cots continues to occur, there is an increasing need to be able to quickly and accurately diagnose the complex equipment without requiring the ambulance cot to be removed from service.
Accordingly, it is advantageous to provide an ambulance cot equipped with an elevating mechanism to facilitate a lifting and lowering of the litter as well as an ability of the ambulance cot to communicate diagnostic issues in a convenient way without requiring removal of the ambulance cot from a field of use for a prolonged period of time.